JAGUAR LAND ROVER SEEKS UK VIRUS AID PACKAGE

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is said to be in talks with the UK government for an estimated £1-billion support package to tide through the coronavirus pandemic, according to British media reports.

Britain’s largest carmaker has submitted a large bespoke loan package request to ministers in recent weeks, Sky News reported. The request is understood to be for temporary state funding, with the loan request lodged with the UK’S Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is headed by Indian-origin minister Alok Sharma.

“JLR is constantly in discussion with government on a whole range of matters relating to Covid-19 and we will not discuss details which are confidential and private,” a JLR spokesperson said. The Sunday Times reported last week that the government was exploring plans to become a lender of last resort to key companies, including JLR, which could entail the state extending loans that could convert into shares.

The UK’S Treasury department plans to set up a “bad bank” or “asset resolution” fund to hold stakes in firms that it may end up part-owning. The West Midlands luxury car giant employs around 40,000 people, with the vast majority in the UK, and supports a large number of suppliers. Its sales fell 31 per cent in the first three months of the year amid the lockdown and it was forced to halt production in the UK, putting staff on furlough, until restarting work amid social distance rules at its Solihull factory last week.

There are also concerns around Port Talbot steelworks, owned by Tata Steel, with the firm thought to be considering shutting one of its two blast furnaces. The firm has sought a £500-million loan from UK to support the south Wales site, which employs about 4,000. That request is believed to be under consideration.